stimulating introduction to a school of thinking and a body of research that is not widely known or easily accessible to us. His attempt to provide a unify ing theory of sensory receptor mechanisms based on evolutionary principles is unique and imaginative. Among the joys of a career in science is the opportunity to rub shoulders with people of outstanding intellectual power and, with luck, to have the privilege of their friendship. In May of 1979 I visited the U.S.S.R. as a guest lecturer in chemical senses. During the 8 days that I spent in the beautiful city of Leningrad I had the great...

There is an Inca incantation which stated said roughly: Lord, give me spiritual peace so that I can acquiesce to what I cannot change, give me courage so that I can change what I can change, and give me wisdom so that I can distinguish one from the other. Obviously, this incantation can be regularly repeated by any gerontologist, since it is very difficult to distinguish aging from the processes which enhance the organism's viability, aging from diseases, and the mechanisms of aging in various species of animals. According to N. Shock, who compiled a valuable bibliography of the works on...